Heart of Alban

by G L Roberts

  Leus stared for a moment at Bryn’s face. He sighed. “You speak the truth. We would start with just those wielding a sword, and for some, it would be enough. There are those on Alban though, who would find it necessary to take it further. That would not be wise.”

  Bryn let go of Leus’ hand. She walked back to her seat next to Thalynder and stood quiet for a few moments while the others considered their own reasons for wanting a war.

  “Perhaps, war is not what we should be discussing,” Thalynder said when no one else spoke after several moments. “Perhaps, we should be thinking of a way to defuse a war and negotiate a peace. There may well be others in Götaland who may wish to come and live on our island. After all, there are druids among those tribes.”

  Bryn glanced at Arryn.

  “We did not ask for this war,” Lothan said. “We were forced into it when the Norsemen pillaged and killed our kinsman. We, my Queen and my clann, will not watch more of our own die at the hands of the vík ingr.”

  “No one will be subject to that ever again, Lothan,” Arryn said. “Be assured, all here will fight to defend your kinsman as well as ours. We do this for Alban, all of Alban. And though she is your queen, Betony is not the hand which guides us now.”

  Lothan stared at Arryn. He pursed his lips for a moment, then nodded.

  “True, our Lady Athebryn is our leader, and I am sorry if I sounded as if I questioned her leadership.”

  “No offense taken,” Arryn said.

  “Not only Alban needs defending,” Cinnia said. “Erui too needs the strength of the armies. I believe Bryn when she says the Norsemen will invade all sides of Alban. Erui lies to the west of Alban but is no less vulnerable to attack.”

  “Yes, yes, Erui is also at risk,” Leus said. “As is the South and the North. We will have armies at all borders.”

  Bryn held her hand up. The others stopped talking and looked at her. The crown had disappeared from her forehead, and the silver strands were no longer in her hair. She rested her hand on Thalynder’s shoulder.

  “I have heard all your words, and I understand why you feel as you do. You wish to avenge the fallen. You wish to send a message to the Norsemen that Alban is not free for the taking. You wish to inflict the same harm, the same hurt inflicted upon you and your kin for too many years.” Bryn looked at Lothan. “Steadfast Inceni brother, your kin suffered too long at the hands of the vík ingr. But there are many sides to this war.”

  Bryn gave Thalynder’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “Prince Malcolm, Princess Thalynder, you have both tasted battle with these marauders. A battle quickly fought and quickly won. Tell me, will either of your father’s armies, bravely sent to our aid, remain when the weather turns bitter cold and food is scarce? It is a lot to ask of an army unused to unrelenting destruction.”

  Malcolm frowned and glanced over at Thalynder.

  Bryn looked at Leus. “You, my cousin, Elf Prince of the Umbriel Forest, you have ten thousand coming to Bynack More. Will the elves wish to wage a battle that may last for tens of years? A generation of battles for one small island? The elves already seek out new and distant lands on which to hide away from the humans. How long will your kinsmen wish to stand beside you?” Leus started to speak but shook his head instead.

  Bryn turned to Rythale. “You come because there has been much devastation for the Picts. Your kin, slaves for too many years. The Norsemen know you have passion. They know you will fight to the end. But to whose end? Will you fight to the last man, woman or child, or will they?” Rythale did not speak. She stared at Bryn, her lips tight.

  Bryn moved to Lothan. “Your good Queen Betony has braved this enemy for more years than most represented here. My brothers were killed standing side by side with your Queen. Will your Queen ever be satisfied? She has lost too many. Fought tough for too long. Will she be able to stop and see the need for a compromise?” Lothan looked down at his feet.

  Bryn walked around the circle. “Kenna, you are a brave and courageous woman of Bridei. Your mother already regrets the decisions of this council. She is certain we will lead the others to death. It is why she remains on the outside looking in. She believes we will all perish and she will be left to pick up the pieces and start anew. Only, it will be her leadership that will form the new Alban. It is something all the Elf-Sisters are trained to believe. My mother included. If we die, they have another plan to fall back on.” Bryn touched Kenna on the shoulder. “Our mothers would have debated the outcome no matter who the dragons chose back at the Stones.” Kenna reached out and touched the hem of Bryn’s tunic. Bryn continued.

  “My dear cousin, Cinnia,” Bryn said and walked toward Cinnia. “The warriors of Erui have only battled the other clanns of Erui. Long ago they fought side by side with the clanns of Dal Riata. They fought for lands. They fought for the right to govern themselves. They have never been faced with an enemy bent on destroying every last one of them. An enemy so intent on possessing every living thing in their way, by death or other means. The enemy we face now is not in the least concerned about how much land they will gain, but how many lives they can bend or break. Will the Erui stand with us when they fully realize the nature of this enemy?” Cinnia pulled her spear closer to her chest and rested her forehead against the highly polished wooden shaft of the spear.

  Bryn walked over to Arryn and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Prince of the Epidii, your clann still holds allegiance to none. Your elders quibble over which Elf Sister to follow.” Bryn knelt before Arryn. “Among those of us who traveled to the Stones were three who could have been chosen to be Jewel; Lady Kenna, myself, and you, Prince.” Arryn shook his head. “Do not deny the heritage we share, Arryn. If the ancients had chosen Lady Kenna, then Lady Anestar would be leading an army against all Albans to control and rule.” Bryn turned to Kenna. “I mean no disrespect, Lady Kenna.”

  “There is no disrespect, Lady Athebryn, for truth spoken.”

  Bryn looked again at Arryn. “If the dragons and the Stones had chosen you, Prince Arryn, would there be a question when you spoke? Would the elders consider you to be ill-equipped to rule? No. A man commanding armies, leading forces against an enemy. This would seem to be foretold, even a boon to the clanns. They would be willing to go to war for a man chosen by the dragons. Fight to the end, defending the Jewel and his quest. But not so the druids of which your clann was closely allied; your clann are druids themselves, including you.” Bryn touched Arryn’s chin. “The Elf-Sisters schemed and planned and hoped for a female to bring the druids to a higher place than just seers to kings. But not all the sisters followed the plan. My mother had sons first. As did Lady Anethar of the North and Lady Adhar of the Umbriel. They followed their hearts and wished to please their husband’s clanns with sons. But after a while, they realized the other plan, the one they had been raised to follow, was the true plan and they gave themselves over to the druid elders.” Bryn touched the fish symbol of the Epidii at the center of Arryn’s tunic.

  “I am the daughter of Arlendyl, the youngest of the half-elven Elf-Sisters. My father, the one whose seed provided my mother with a child, was not Brymender of the clann Brae. He was of an Elf race no longer here in the lower lands of Alban. I am Brae only because Brymender agreed to raise me as his own.” Bryn stood up. “I am the Jewel not because I am House Brae, but because I am the last remaining thread of a race long dead. A race, known by the ancients to have joined with the dragons of old.”

  Kenna turned her head quickly at Bryn’s words. “You are of Queen Athyl’s direct line? More direct than the Elf-Sisters?”

  “I am,” Bryn replied.

  ❦

  “Lady Adhar, your visitor has arrived,” the young woman said.

  “Thank you, Pelar, please show her in,” Lady Adhar replied. She ran her hands over the front of her dress. She stood and faced the door.

  “Sister,” Lady Arlendyl said as she entered the small room. “I came as soon as I received your note. Are the others here?”


  “No, this is just between us.”

  “Just between us? What do you mean? Your note mentioned the Jewel and the birthright. Would this not be something all the Elf-Sisters should be interested in?”

  “It is. And in due time, the Sisters will know of what we are about to speak of today.” Lady Adhar walked over and gave her sister a hug. “Please sit. We will have tea first. Then we will talk.”

  Arlendyl chose a chair opposite of Adhar. Between the chairs stood a small table with two mugs and a small plate of fruit. Arlendyl watched as Adhar motioned to the young woman outside the door. She waited until Adhar sat down. Arlendyl started to speak, but the young woman came back into the room and Arlendyl waited.

  The young woman carried a small earthen jug and poured the liquid into each mug. She walked back out of the room and closed the door behind her.

  Arlendyl saw the slight shake to Adhar’s hands as she took the mug and inhaled the scent of the liquid as it came up in the steam.

  “Rose and rosemary,” Adhar said.

  “We will be calm but alert,” Arlendyl said. “Do I need to be calm or alert?”

  “I need to be alert. You decide which it is to be for you.”

  Arlendyl lifted her mug and inhaled the scent. She took a small sip and was instantly bathed in a familiar feeling. “This smells like home.”

  “If you mean Skerrabrae, then yes,” Adhar said. “If you mean the realm you now reside in, I would think that scent would more closely resemble clay and pine.”

  “It would. And the Umbriel Forest? What scent does your new home carry?”

  “The scent of decay and withdrawal,” Adhar replied. “The elves of the Umbriel have long forgotten to nurture the earth. Which, of course, is why I now live here in the North.”

  “And now, will you tell me why you have summoned me to the North?”

  Adhar took a sip of the tea. She set the mug back on the table before reaching behind the plate of fruit for a small book. Turning the diary over, she handed it to Arlendyl.

  Arlendyl reached for the small book but stopped when she saw the writing on the cover. She stood up quickly.

  “Stop!” called Adhar. “Sit down!”

  Arlendyl turned and glared at Adhar. Reluctantly she sat down, avoiding Adhar’s gaze. She took the book from Adhar and dropped it in her lap. “Well, get this over with.”

  Adhar reached out and gently touched Arlendyl’s hand. “You are not here to defend your actions,” she said. “We all understand why you did what you did. Some do not agree, but it is in the past. You are here because I have information for you and I need to hear your resolution.”

  “Some do not agree?” Arlendyl repeated. “There is only one who does not agree, Anestar. She has long chided me for my decision. And you know why? Because she is jealous!”

  “Be still. Sip your tea.”

  Arlendyl did as she was told. She sipped the tea. Visibly her shoulders relaxed, and she sighed. “I am sorry, Adhar. You said you have information for me. I will keep a civil tongue while you tell me what I need to know.”

  “First, you need to know the past is the past, Arlendyl. Lady Anestar will never change. She is the Queen of Bridei only because she made herself a Queen. She realized she would never be much more than a curiosity among the druids—a druid who does not embrace her heritage. Anestar will die a lonely woman. Even now, her own daughter chooses to follow another.

  The Picts and Northern clanns have an excellent representative in our other sister Anethar. Though quiet and unobtrusive, Anethar is courageous. She is the backbone of the warriors of the far north of Alban. And she has never questioned your decision. Our sister Albistan, closest to you in age and temperament, understands why you chose as you did. I believe she sometimes wishes she was given the same choice. She remains in Erui because it reminds her of Skerrabrae as it once was.”

  “And you? Do you understand?” asked Arlendyl.

  “Dearest Arlendyl, I am the one who suggested the action,” Adhar replied. “Of course, I understand.”

  “You suggested it? Why then allow Anestar to be so scornful? So hateful toward Bryn?”

  “I have already told you, Anestar will never change. She has been jealous of you since your birth. But that is not the issue here. Are you ready to listen to me now?”

  Arlendyl set the mug back on the table. She looked at the book and touched the cover with a gentle brush of her hand. The book, ancient even to the Book of Clanns, recorded births and deaths since the first druid walked the earth. Simple names and dates. No elaborations, no declarations. She glanced up at Adhar.

  “Tell me what you have learned.” Arlendyl held the book out to Adhar.

  Adhar took the book from Arlendyl and held it in her lap. She too brushed the cover lightly as if the dust of millennia could be so easily removed. She took a deep breath and looked at Arlendyl.

  “Bryn has seen Ua.”

  Arlendyl stared at Adhar. She started to speak, but the words would not come. Tears welled in her eyes and fell unchecked onto her hands as she held them to her face. She silently cried for several minutes until the tears stopped. She wiped her face with her hands. Arlendyl saw a shape come out of the shadows to stand in front of her.

  “Does she know and understand?” Arlendyl asked.

  “She knows,” Ua replied. “She has yet to fully understand. She will seek you out for an explanation only a mother can give.”

  “Only a mother can give,” Arlendyl repeated.

  “Yes,” Adhar said. “For you are the only mother she has known.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Thalynder felt Bryn’s arms around her, and she inwardly sighed. Two glorious months of Bryn’s attention had filled Thalynder with a peace she had never known. She understood it was a fleeting feeling with the prospect of war looming over the entire island. For now, though, Thalynder was content. She moved back against Bryn.

  “You have been dreaming,” Bryn said.

  “Now, how do you know?”

  “You were sighing in your sleep.”

  Thalynder turned to look at Bryn. “I was not dreaming. I was fully aware I sighed. I just thought I had done so silently.”

  Bryn chuckled. “And what causes you to sigh not so silently?”

  “You.”

  “Ah, what have I done now?”

  “You have been attentive, gracious, supportive and very accommodating,” Thalynder replied. “One would think we were spending our honeymoon here in the bleak last days of winter on a hilltop overlooking the sea.”

  “And are we not?”

  “Well, we are on a hilltop overlooking the sea. We are huddled close to keep warm, even though the fire in the hearth never goes out. And these are the last days of winter.”

  “Beloved.” Bryn touched Thalynder’s chin and caressed her cheek. “We will be up against great odds, not only when we meet the Norsemen again, but when we finally have our homeland safe and secure. We will always be at odds with those who think we are two foolish girls playing at silly girl games. Right now, right here, we are together. We love like newlyweds. We laugh like newlyweds. We plan like newlyweds. Is that not enough to convince our hearts we are newlyweds?”

  “Then this is fleeting?”

  “We will always love as we do now. But, yes, there is the possibility what we have right now will not always be ours. We both have obligations. You have a kingdom to rule.”

  “And you have a country.” Thalynder turned back to look through the open door and out toward the sea. “I understand now why you have been so generous these past nine weeks.”

  Bryn shook her head. She stroked Thalynder’s hair and gently placed a kiss on her head. “Your presence here in Skerrabrae has brought me nothing but joy, my Lynder. You are the beat to my step. Without you, I stumble.”

  Thalynder clutched at Bryn’s arms. “Then what will happen to us?”

  “Do not think for a moment I wish us to part,” Bryn replied. “If we win freedom for Alban,
it is my hope we find a way to keep the country united, even in times of peace. You know my desire for a council ruled by the voice of the people. A high seat where all can come to seek guidance, assistance, and governance by steady heads and hearts. Your kingdom would have a seat on that council. This, you know.”

  “This would keep you, and I close? Perhaps, even living in the same kingdom?”

  “Why not the same house?”

  Thalynder turned quickly back to look at Bryn. “Is this truly possible? Where will we live?”

  “One step at a time, my Lynder. House hunting will have to wait until we have dealt with the Norsemen.”

  “The Norsemen. With the quiet of late, my mind has all but wished them into nothingness.”

  Bryn gently released her hold on Thalynder and sat up. She peered out the door toward the sea. The western sea was calmer this morning. The storm that had kept her and Thalynder inside for three days had finally blown itself out. The sky was tinged with white clouds, and a pale sunrise cast a soft light on the deserted village. Bryn rubbed Thalynder’s shoulder. She softly sighed.

  “The last of the winter storms have passed. Soon, the Norsemen will load their boats and begin the journey back to Alban. We have plans to discuss it with the council. You, my love, have been my sounding board these past weeks. I have given much thought to what we should do in preparation for the return of the enemy. Today, you and I will say goodbye to our honeymoon and ready ourselves for the trip to Bynack More.”

  “Too bad you do not control the sea,” Thalynder said as she sat up next to Bryn. “It would have been lovely to spend another week here, sheltering from the storm.”

  “I fear there is no shelter from the storm that awaits us, my love.”

  ❦

  The sun shone brightly upon the water, and Hansa blinked before she turned away from the sparkling ripples. She picked up the soft sheepskin and dried her legs and arms. She shivered a little in the cold late winter air. Spring was just around the corner, but the wind held onto the last days of winter like a dog with a bone.